An attempt to document my explorations of the Bannister family history. I have traced the family line back to Amos Bannister from Adlington in the early 1700s - how much further can I go? This blog is also a place for me to document my genealogical self-education and occasional genealogy-related development projects.

Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Old Stretford - Chapter II - Means of Conveyance

CHAPTER II.

Means of Conveyance.

BY OMNIBUS.

In my early days people going from Stret-

ford to Manchester had either to walk or else

to ride in Massey's two-horse omnibuses,

which left the Unicorn at Altrincham every

hour, and arrived at the Angel Inn, Stretford

in three-quarters of an hour. Passengers

from neighbouring districts made their

way to the comfortable waiting room that

had been provided at the Angel. Originally

the far from Stretford to Manchester was

one shilling, but when I travelled by this line

it was sixpence outside and ninepence in.

About 1845 omnibuses began to run from

Flixton; they passed through Stretford, and

made the King's Arms, King-street, their

headquarters. This line was started by a

man named Thornton. Shortly afterwards

an opposition line was set up by Emmanuel

Birkbeck, another coach proprietor. Though

these omnibuses only ran morning and even-

ing they were much used by Stretford people.

When the Altrincham line was madeMassey's 'buses ceased to run. After aninterregnum, John Brundrit, a farmer, andThomas Higson, who kept the Old Cock Inn,became partners, and started a new line.They had their stables near the Old Cock, andnotwithstanding subsequent opposition theywere successful. Their charges were four-pence inside and threepence out. They alsoissued contract tickets at reduced rates. Oldinhabitants will remember the popularBrothers Cookson: Bob, who drove an omni-bus, and Dan and little Johnnie, who actedas guards. They were nephews of Mr.Brundrit, and always did their best to pleasetheir passengers. Another well-known driver was JohnSeddon, who now keeps the Angel Hotel. Fora time Mr. James Standring, of Brooks'sBar, and Mr. William Wild, of Salford, ranin opposition, but the native-owned line wasthe favourite. After running many yearsMessrs. Brundrit and Higson sold their con-cern to Messrs. Bannister, O'Brien, Walsh andothers, who formed a limited company underthe title of the Stretford Omnibus and Con-veyancing Company, and built waiting roomsneat the Bishop Blaize. The encounteredsome competition from Stephen Shawcross,of Urmston, and Frank Worrall, of Stret-ford, who jointly started a line that for atime carried on a bitter fight for business,sometimes at the risk of life and limb, asthere were several accidents through the rivalomnibuses racing one another. Some yearsafter, the Manchester Carriage Company,who had previously only run to Old Trafford,started an opposition line to Stretford.Eventually they bought up the old line, ranwell-equipped three-horsed omnibuses, andsuccessfully competed with the railway com-pany.

2 comments:

I have really enjoyed reading your blog! Such great information and so very detailed that it is making the community come to life! I love it! By the way, I am a Hampson and directly related to the Hampson's who lived in the great stone cottages. I am searching for information about them and about the cottages, if there is any in the book you are transcribing. And if not, that is okay, because I am still enjoying reading about the daily life of the community. Thank you, again for continuing to transcribe the book. You are doing a good deed!

Once I get fully back to speed I hope to continue transcribing the book. The name Hampson doesn't jump out at me, but I know there is a chapter about "local celebrities" and another on tradespeople, so you might get lucky there/ ;^)